STENCIL NATION

Friday, April 10 at 7:30 pm, Russell Howze presents a slide show at Northtown Books from his book "Stencil Nation: Graffiti, Community, and Art", which features over 500 full-color photographs.

The book presents work by more than 350 artists from 28 countries, including Iran, Australia, Japan, Canada, Spain, Lebanon, Israel, and the United States. Featured artists include: Banksy, Jef Aerosol, Logan Hicks, Adam5100, Arofish, M-City, SWOON, Hao, John Fekner, Peat Wollaeger, Klutch, and others.

Russell Howze saw his first stencil in 1990, which was J. R. "Bob" Dobbs on an apartment wall in Clemson, SC. In 1995, Russell saw an amazing sight on the exterior wall of the Reichstag in Berlin: a huge stenciled Bertolt Brecht poem. He snapped a photo of that stencil, then found one in Budapest, Hungary. Then a few more stencils appeared in Basel, Switzerland. When he landed in San Francisco in 1997, he found dozens on the sidewalks of the Mission and Haight neighborhoods. He's never stopped photographing the sometimes temporary, always intriguing art form.

In 2002, Russell created the first version of Stencil Archive, thinking that he would have time to scan and upload his own collection before anyone discovered the site and submitted their own work. He was gladly mistaken, so Stencil Archive took off and ended up becoming a site with over 10,000 uploaded photographs. At the time of its inception, Stencil Archive was the only international stencil site out there (for a few months). Now there are dozens of sites with tens of thousands of photographs. Russell continues to curate his site, posting stencils from around the world and featuring dozens of amazing artists.

When not photographing, making, painting, and uploading stencils, Russell fills his time by doing one or more of the following fun things: being a carny for the Sustainable Living Roadshow, riding his bike, writing for his blog, cooking healthy food, creating vector art and putting it on stickers and buttons, producing events, puppeteering, listening to good music, traveling, and volunteering/protesting to make the world a better place.

He currently lives in San Francisco's Mission District, and is usually seen on his bike with his camera slung around his shoulder.

A "vibrant exploration of a sub-sub-genre.... [T]his volume crosses the globe for a swift tour of the world's best artists, making it a handsome and insightful introduction to the form." - Publishers Weekly, 10/16/2008

UPDATE: We had a packed house here at Northtown, and Russell enjoyed kicking off his tour here.

JJ SEMPLE

In his latest book The Backward-Flowing Method: The Secret of Life and Death, JJ Semple examines the meditation techniques for activating the Kundalini-Life Force.

His previous book, Deciphering the Golden Flower One Secret at a Time, told the story of his Kundalini awakening.

In The Backward-Flowing Method, he examines the meditation techniques that led to his awakening, analyzes meditation practices across cultures and throughout the ages, and offers a method that has the following real world results:

Triggering autonomic self-healing mechanisms capable of correcting defects related to neural degeneration;
Rejuvenating the body, retarding the aging process, stimulating neuroplastic activity; Reversing self-destructive and addictive behavior;
Heightening and enhancing consciousness to effect release from Karmic bondage;
Facing death without fear and facilitating the transition into the next state of being.

Join JJ Semple Friday March 27th at 7 pm for this event.

For more information, go here.

ANNE IGOU

On Friday March 13th AT 7 PM , local artist Anne Igou presents her new book I Can't Believe I'm Creating Millefiore, and shares her techniques for creating polymer clay jewelry.

Millefiore means "a thousand flowers" and imitates the look of intricate Italian glass art.

Anne has taught workshops all over the country, and has made appearances on several national television shows. At Northtown, she'll do a demonstration of how she creates her pieces.

Please join us this Friday.

GROUP PORTRAIT

(l-r) Erik Syverson, Monika Zerzan, Jay Herzog, Dante Digenova, Deric Mendes, and standing in for Simone Goldenberg, Max (in front).


The staff at Northtown recently was asked, along with several other local independent bookstores, to help judge the North Coast Journal's flash fiction contest.

The group picture above was taken for the paper by Bob Doran.

Mexico Unconquered

John Gibler presents his new book from City Lights, Mexico Unconquered: Chronicles of Power and Revolt, at
Northtown Books
February 4 at 5:30 pm.

Mexico Unconquered is an evocative report on the epic powers of violence and corruption in Mexico and the underdogs and rebels who put their lives on the line to build justice from the ground up.

Author John Gibler probes the overwhelming divisions in contemporary Mexico, home to the world's richest man, Carlos Slim, and to destitute millions. The book explores the concept of the Rule of Law in a land known for its implacable corruption and impunity; the political machinations behind Mexico's devastating economic disparities; the implications and consequences of the annual exodus of half a million Mexicans to the United States; the unprecedented civil disobedience uprising in Oaxaca state; and the continuing Indigenous Present that resists the government's attempts to confine Mexico's 10 million indigenous peoples to calm and controlled corners of the past.

Global Exchange supported John Gibler while writing Mexico Unconquered and reporting from Mexico from 2006-2008 with the Global Exchange Media Fellowship.

Read his dispatches at GlobalExchange.org.

Praise for Mexico Unconquered:

"In Mexico Unconquered John Gibler has produced an important new work focusing on Mexico's ongoing class struggles and the historical continuum of resistance, organizing, and revolt against the social injustices and official corruption evident at all levels of Mexican society. Gibler argues that the Conquest never quite finished, that colonialism from Spain evolved into a new, but equally violent form of internal domination. From the arrival of the first people in ancient Mesoamerica to the ongoing plague of narcotrafficking and feminicide in Ciudad Juarez, Gibler explores Mexico's current political undercurrents in a historical context. Through research, critical analysis, and superb first-hand reporting culled from years of living in Mexico, Gibler shares the voices, stories, and communal dignity of the ordinary Mexicans who are putting their lives at risk by challenging corrupt power as they build social movements for basic rights, justice, and autonomy. An exciting first book by an emerging young writer."— Howard Zinn

"Part journalism, part history, part call to action, John Gibler's book chronicles not only the continuing colonization of Mexico, but also the continuity of resistance to it. Revealing those forces of resistance, which sometimes take the form of mass explosions, and other times take the form of individual expressions of indignation and defiance, Gibler helps us see Mexico with new eyes—a Mexico that has always been constituted by revolutionary dreams of freedom and equality." —Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, co-authors of Empire and Multitude: War and Democracy in the Age of Empire

An insightful tour of the horror show next door, this book is full of shocking and distressing tales about the struggle and brutality of Mexican politics. It boggles the mind how close Mexico is, yet how overlooked their past and current history is. Gibler, burning with righteous anger, helps correct that." —Christian Parenti, author of The Freedom: Shadows and Hallucination in Occupied Iraq, The Soft Cage and Lockdown America

"Mexico Unconquered maps a complex and tangled territory stretched between two poles—on one side, a world driven by the logic of empire and the reality of possession, conquest, and occupation; on the other, a land of possibility animated by cooperation, mutual recognition, love, dignity, and sustainability. John Gibler plots the former with laser-like precision, and portrays the latter in vivid and urgent detail. What becomes clear is that the power of resistance today draws in the first place on human creativity and the collective power of our imaginations. Taking the long view—glancing back at the steps that led us to the place we are, and looking forward toward a new world in-the-making—this book is essential reading for activists and engaged citizens who want to make a difference here and now." —Bill Ayers, Distinguished Professor of Education, UIC, author of Fugitive Days

Best Books of the Year

Here are links to a few best of the year lists from various sources, many found at Fimoculous's 2008 List of Lists:

Publisher's Weekly

The Village Voice

The New York Times

NPR's Maureen Corrigan.

A wide array of lists at the book blog The Millions.

And lastly, Northtown's own Jay Herzog lists his favorites in the North Coast Journal.

NORTHTOWN'S FIRST TV AD

Northtown Books does a little couch potato outreach and airs a television ad.

Watch it below in all its glory.

JOHN ZERZAN

John Zerzan, anti-civilization theorist and editor of Green Anarchy magazine will present his new book, Twilight of the Machines, at Northtown Books Friday, December 5 at 7 pm.

Zerzan offers a challenging, radical critique of modern society and techno-culture and argues for a radical reconstruction of society based on a rejection of alienation and an embracing of the wild.

His previous books Elements of Refusal, Future Primitive and Running on Emptiness have made Zerzan a leading voice in anarchist thought. Twilight of the Machines, his first book in six years, confronts civilization, the history of its developing crisis and the possibilities for human and humane solutions.

John Zerzan can now credibly claim the honor of being America's most famous anarchist. His writing is sharp, uncompromising, and tenacious.
- Derrick Jensen

Learn more about John Zerzan here.

THE TYRANNY OF OIL

Antonia Juhasz, author of The Bush Agenda, returns to Northtown Books to present her new book The Tyranny of Oil. The event happens Thursday, December 4, at 7 pm.

In her new book, Juhasz shows how Big Oil manages to hide its business dealings from policy makers, legislators, and most of all, consumers. She reveals exactly how Big Oil gets what it wants—through money, influence, and lies.

Drawing on considerable historical research, Juhasz explores the parallels between today’s companies and Standard Oil, the most powerful corporation of the early 20th century, whose stranglehold on the economy and government was broken only by the vision and persistence of activists and like-minded politicians. We are in a similar position today, she argues, with the 2008 elections offering a unique opportunity for ordinary Americans to come together, reclaim their voices, and shore up our nation’s crumbling democratic foundation.

Please join us for this timely event. For more information, check out her website.

She'll also be appearing the night before, December 3rd, in an event sponsored by the Humboldt Green Party at the Labor Temple in Eureka (840 E Street). It also takes place at 7 pm.

Juhasz was recently interviewed by Terry Gross for NPR's Fresh Air.

LLOYD KAHN

Lloyd Kahn, author of the counter culture classics Shelter and Home Work, presents his new book, Builders of the Pacific Coast, at Northtown Books on Friday, November 21st at 7 pm.

In 2004, Kahn discovered a group of unique carpenters along the Pacific Coast of North America. Over a two-year period, he made four trips north from his home in the San Francisco Bay Area, up the coast, shooting the hundreds of photos that appear in this book. Kahn was the shelter editor of The Whole Earth Catalog in the 60s and 70s, and has had a keen interest in the art and craft of handbuilt homes for several decades.

To preserve homeowners' privacy, specific locations are not given, but the book focuses on the Pacific Coast north from San Francisco up to and around Vancouver Island, British Columbia. A few of the homes are located here in Humboldt County.

There are three featured builders: the aptly named Lloyd House, master craftsman and designer who has created a series of unique homes on a small island; Bruno Atkey, builder of a number of houses and lodges built of hand-split cedar on "The Wild Coast" (the Pacific Ocean side of Vancouver Island), and SunRay Kelley, barefoot builder tuned into Nature, who has designed and built wildly imaginative structures in Washington, California, and other parts of the country.

In addition, the book features working homesteads, sculptural buildings of driftwood, live-aboard boats, gypsy-type caravans, and examples of stunning architectural design.

You don't just read this visual extravaganza of Lloyd Kahn's magnificent discoveries of the homebuilder's art and imagination in the hidden byways and buried inlets of the Pacific Northwest. You deep-breathe your way through its full-color page-spreads with mounting delight, excitement, nostalgia, and a deepening admiration for the diversity of the unfettered expression of the human spirit that the much-distorted 1960's inspired and allowed, and with a re-fired commitment not to let that spirit wither.

– Peter Nabokov

Check out Lloyd Kahn's interesting blog too.

UPDATE: We had a great turnout, and it seems Lloyd enjoyed his time here in Arcata too.